Bangladesh is observing a national day of mourning as the funeral was held for Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent leader of its 2024 student-led uprising, after his death triggered two days of protests across the country.
Tens of thousands of people poured into the area surrounding Bangladesh’s parliament house in the capital, Dhaka, before Hadi was buried at the Dhaka University’s central mosque.
He was laid to rest next to the national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
“You are in our hearts, and you will remain in the heart of all Bangladeshis as long as the country exists,” interim leader Muhammad Yunus told the crowd in a speech.
Dhaka University officials and high-profile political figures were also in attendance, newspaper The Daily Star reported, including the leader of Hadi’s Inqilab Moncho movement and the National Citizen Party chief.
Police wearing body cameras and security forces were deployed across Dhaka to manage traffic and control crowds during the proceedings. The Bangladeshi flag was flown at half-staff at all public and private buildings to mark the day of mourning.
Although protests had largely cooled off by Saturday, the interim government announced the arrests of seven people suspected in the death of Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old Hindu man, in what the government has called a “lynching” in Mymensingh on Thursday.
Media also continued to report previously unknown incidents of violence as cultural institutions, newspapers and political buildings reeled from arson attacks and mob rushes earlier in the week, in the latest turbulent chapter in the nation’s recent history.
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the country’s main state-sponsored cultural centre, announced it would suspend all programming and exhibitions, The Daily Star said. The group cited security risks following arson attacks on Thursday on two of its organisations’ buildings.
Both Prothom Alo and The Daily Star were also targets of ambushes that trapped dozens of employees inside and forced them onto the roof as flames engulfed the building of the latter. The publications pledged to keep publishing online, however.
Hadi, the 32-year-old spokesperson for Inquilab Moncho, or Platform for Revolution, died in hospital in Singapore on Thursday after being shot in the head more than a week ago by masked attackers.
Inqilab Moncho urged people on Facebook to participate in the leader’s funeral, after earlier calling on its followers to refrain from carrying out acts of violence.
